


The Man Behind the Masks

by magos186



Category: NCIS
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Complete, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-14
Updated: 2014-10-18
Packaged: 2018-04-24 13:47:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4921918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magos186/pseuds/magos186
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Tony had told Jeanne the truth long before the events of Bury Your Dead? Here's my take on what might have happened. AU. Tag to season 4's Friends and Lovers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own no part of NCIS. I just love Michael Weatherly and by extension Tony DiNozzo.
> 
> A/N: This is an AU so a couple of Tony's background facts will be changed. It is an AU starting at the end of Friends and Lovers and will remain AU from then on. This will be a Tony/Jeanne pairing. If you don't like it, don't read it.
> 
> A/N 2: I own no part of NCIS. I just love Michael Weatherly and by extension Tony DiNozzo.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is an AU so a couple of Tony's background facts will be changed. It is an AU starting at the end of Friends and Lovers (season 4) and will remain AU from then on (parts of seasons 4 and 5 are included). This will be a Tony/Jeanne pairing. If you don't like it, don't read it.
> 
> Rated for Language.

Tony sat on Jeanne's couch, not moving, not speaking. Jeanne was worried. Not because he was so silent, not because he was so still, but because of the look in his eyes. She'd always been able to read his eyes and now they looked…broken. "What's wrong?" She asked softly as she moved to sit on the coffee table in front of him, placing her hands on his knees. "Tony, what's going on? Talk to me, please."

"I lied to you," he whispered.

"What did you lie about?" She gently prodded.

"Only two things," he replied quietly looking at the floor. "My name is Anthony Giuseppe DiNozzo Jr. and I work for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service."

Jeanne drew back quickly, as if she'd been punched. "What?" She spit out as she moved away from him. Tony looked up at her for the first time that night and saw her confused and angry face. "It's a long story. Can you let me tell you the whole thing? Please?"

It was the despair in his eyes and flatness of his voice that brought her back to him. She sat down on the couch at his side and took his hand. She truly did love him. Earlier when they had been fighting about her ex, he nearly broke things off with her. He didn't say the words, but she could tell. She realized then how deeply she loved him and she didn't want to lose him. If he felt even a fraction of what she did, it would be worth fighting for. She needed to know the truth. "Go ahead Tony," she encouraged softly.

"Aside from those two things, everything else with you has been real. It's all been true. Even the story about that stupid horse. My father's third wife was to blame for that one. I've never been as honest with anyone as I've been with you. I wear a lot of masks. The cops at my old precinct used to call me The Chameleon because of my great adaptability at doing undercover work. I've been undercover so many times in the past seven years and never once have I messed up or blown my own cover." That time with Jeffrey White doesn't count, he thought to himself. "Even when I'm not undercover, no one gets to see the real Tony. No one wants to see the real Tony…at least not until you.

"When I was a kid, I was open and honest most of the time. My mother was an amazing woman. She was beautiful, talented, and she loved me more than anything. She was a world class pianist and composer. At least until she married my dad. They met in Rome and had a whirlwind romance. Seven months after they met, they got married and two months later I was born in Naples. I have dual citizenship.

"Anyway, things were great for the first year. Then we moved back to the States. My father has an estate in Long Island. He let my mother redecorate as she saw fit, but she only changed my nursery and the sun room. That's where her baby grand piano went and she did all her composing in there. She even set up a recording studio. The room was also soundproofed. When I turned three, she put me in lessons four times a week. But a few months after we moved there, my father changed. He was no longer the caring and affectionate man he was in Italy. He hardened, became obsessed with his business and money and had no problem showing off his trophy wife. He sure as hell wanted nothing to do with me. He hired the nannies and private tutors, but that was it. I never really saw him much. I had my mom though. She was my whole world. She's what started my love of movies. We would sit together for hours and watch old movies. She always knew different facts about the movie that she'd explain during it. But even focusing all her attention on me couldn't take away the pain my dad caused. She'd drown as much of it as she could in her music. Her songs were always breathtakingly beautiful and heartbreakingly haunting at the same time.

"The first time she touched alcohol more than recreationally was the summer after I turned seven. I hadn't really spent time with other kids so my mom decided I was old enough to go to camp. I spent the entire three month summer at sleep-away camp. When I came back, I knew in an instant things were different. The house had been redecorated in this horrible Louis the XV style. I hated it. I had this new canopy bed that gave me nightmares. I took to sleeping on the settee in the sunroom. So after a few months of that, she redecorated again. That time it was in a contemporary style, so it wasn't bad. She actually kept things like that. But it wasn't just the furniture that was different. She and my father now slept in different wings of the house. My room was in the same hallway as her sunroom, so she took the extra bedroom at the end of that hall. It was fun. The only time we ever had to venture into other parts of the house were for my father's atrocious parties, where I was forced to dress like a sailor, or to go to the kitchen or the yard. She tried to hide her drinking from me, but I found out. She always said I was a natural investigator. She called me her little PI. She told me I'd make an excellent detective one day. She didn't want me anywhere near my dad's business…didn't want me to become a monster like him.

"We lived like that for a couple more years, me going to camp for three months a year and taking care of my alcoholic mother the other nine."

When Tony didn't say anything else, Jeanne squeezed his hand. "What happened Tony?" She asked softly.

"It was the end of May…a few days after my tenth birthday and about a week before camp was due to start. I woke up in the middle of the night. It wasn't the rain that woke me, I just…I had a bad feeling. I knew something was wrong. So I went looking for my mom. She wasn't in her bedroom or the sunroom. I found her at the bottom of our marble staircase. I screamed. The butler came running. When he saw her, he called 911. I rushed down the stairs and knelt next to her. I held her hand. I didn't notice the blood pooled on the floor. I just stared at her face, calling her name. She never moved. The paramedics pronounced her dead a few minutes after they got there. The cops that showed up determined she tripped on the runner that was bunched at the top of the stairs and fell.

"After they took her away, the butler took me to my room. He cleaned the blood from me, took my bloody clothes, put me in a bath. Once I was clean and in new pajamas, he left me alone to call my father, who was in California on business. I snuck into the sunroom. My mom always kept it locked. Only the two of us had a key. I locked myself in and put on one of her recordings. It was the album she'd made just for me. I found her open journal on the settee so I curled up and opened it. All her pain was written there for me to see, but so was her love for me. Her last entry was written as a letter to me.

_Mio Caro Tonio,_

_I love you more than anything in this world. You are mio tesoro. You've given me the strength to survive these years. I have cherished every moment we've had together and I will cherish every moment we have together in the future. I will always be beside you Tonio. But to get to that future, I must change the present. I've enrolled you in the Rhode Island Military Academy, which will start the day after camp ends. This is not a punishment Caro. It is because you have never been to regular school, so I'd like you to learn the discipline you need to attend one. While you're gone, I will be going into rehabilitation. I am an alcoholic. I know you know that and I know it too. I've known since I started, but I didn't see a way out for us so I didn't stop. I'm sorry. When I finish rehab, I will be divorcing your father. This place is toxic to us both and I have enough money for us to live comfortably forever. I may even get back to music and once again go out on tour. You've been taking care of me for too long mio figlio and it's time I started to take care of you again._

_It's raining now amore mio. You know how I enjoy the rain. I think I'll go out and stand in it for a while…let it cleanse me of my sins and failures. Our lives will begin anew tomorrow tesoro and everything will be better. Our lives will be better._

_Ti amo, mio bambino caro,_

_Mommy_

Tony wasn't aware of the tears tracking down his face. He was just numb. He didn't want to talk anymore, he didn't want to remember anymore. He just wanted his brain to shut down for a while. He barely noticed when Jeanne took several tissues and cleaned his face. Once that was done, she laid him down on the couch, kneeling next to his head. "Go to sleep Tony," she said softly as she gently ran her fingers through his hair. "Sleep now, I'll be here in the morning." She continued to run her fingers through his hair, humming an old lullaby until his breathing evened out. Only then did she move into the bathroom to wash her own tears away. She couldn't help feeling heartbroken for the poor man she'd come to love. She could tell by the way he'd spoken that he never told anyone this story before. She was determined to finish hearing him out before making any decisions about them.

Once she was composed, she went back to the living room and opened her laptop, planning to keep an eye on Tony tonight. She quickly checked her email, noticing one from her ex. She was surprised at the message it contained. He finally understood that she'd moved on with her life. Even if she didn't have Tony, she would have never taken John back. Too much damage had been done by his betrayal. She could never trust him again. She deleted the photo he'd sent her and just as she was deleting the email, a phone rang. She knew from the sound it wasn't hers, so she searched Tony for his and found it in his coat pocket. She picked up his coat from the back of the couch to retrieve it and an envelope fell out with her name. His voicemail had kicked in by the time she opened the phone. She scrolled through his contacts and found one labelled "Boss." She quickly sent off a text message to that contact saying Tony wouldn't be coming to work the next day before she turned off the phone. She put it on the coffee table and picked up the envelope with her name. It contained a letter and a flash drive.

_Jeanne,_

_I have fallen for you—harder than I have ever fallen for anyone. In fact, this is the longest relationship I've had since college. I'm terrified of screwing this up because you've gotten in. You alone now have the power to break me. And you saw just how vulnerable I am that night we talked about sex. I didn't mean to give you this power over me, but you have it. I was talking to someone earlier and he made me realize that unless you know the truth, this will blow up on me. I plan to talk to you tonight. I plan to tell you things I've never told anyone. I'm going to let you in completely and trust you not to break me. But I have a feeling that after the shit day I had, I won't get much passed my mother before I just shut down. So everything you need to know is on that flash drive. It's a digital copy of my journal, which I started the day after my mother died. It's the only thing to know all my secrets, all my feelings. Sad when a word document is the only thing that knows anything about your real life. But please read it. I want you to know everything. If at the end, you decide you no longer want to be with me, I'll go away and you'll never see me again. But if you decide to give me a second chance, I swear I will never lie to you again. And I really hope you give me that second chance, because I love you. I don't know how it happened, or when it happened, I just know that it did. You're the only women I've ever felt this way about, Jeanne. Don't give up on me._

_Please forgive me,_

_Tony_


	2. Chapter 2

When Tony woke, it was to find himself lying on his back on a couch, Jeanne wedge between his side and the back of the couch. She propped herself up on one arm and looked down at him. "Hey," she whispered.

"Hey. You're still here," he stated, unable to keep the shock from his voice.

"I promised I would be. I found your envelope. I was up all night reading."

"So you know everything now?" He asked, his face open and vulnerable, the same as it always was when they had a serious discussion.

"Not everything. We still have things to talk about. Why don't you go get cleaned up and I'll make us some breakfast. I'm not running yet," she said as she leaned down to kiss him. Tony wrapped his arms around her and just held on for a few minutes.

"Crap!" He shouted as he bolted upright, forcing the both of them into sitting positions. "I need to get to work. What time is it?"

"Don't worry about it," Jeanne said as she grabbed his arm, forcing him to stay seated. "I sent your boss a text last night saying that you weren't coming into work today. So go get changed. Then we eat. Then we talk."

"Yes doctor," he replied with a smile. He gave her one last quick kiss and disappeared into the bathroom. Jeanne allowed herself a tiny smile as she moved into the kitchen. She grabbed the hazelnut creamer, hot chocolate packets, and the quiche that was in the fridge. She threw the quiche in the microwave to heat while she made the hot chocolate with the creamer instead of milk. Tony liked it better that way. He said it tasted like Baci – his favorite candy.

Half an hour later, the food was gone and the two were simply sitting there, staring down into their mugs. Neither was really sure how to start, even though they both knew they needed to. Suddenly the phone rang, breaking the silence. "That's not mine," Jeanne said. "I thought I turned yours off."

"You did. I turned it back on earlier to check my messages," Tony said as he pulled it from his pocket. "DiNozzo."

"The team's off rotation for the weekend," came the response. No hello, no how are you, just an order.

"Thanks boss. See you Monday."

"You get the weekend off?" she asked as he closed the phone.

"Yeah, my boss took our team off rotation this weekend."

"Can you tell me exactly what your job is? There wasn't much information about that."

"Well, I'm a Senior Field Agent. I work on the Major Crimes Response team, which is what we investigate. We do have set work hours, but a lot of times when we have a tough or important case we pull overnighters. It's a four man team. There's my boss, the supervisor senior agent, then me, then our junior field agent, and we also have a Mossad officer liason who works with us."

"And this is just for navy crimes?"

"Navy and marines mostly. The army has its own criminal investigative division."

"So your assignment with me…what's the deal?"

"A few months ago, my boss was injured in an explosion. He lost more than ten years of memories. He didn't remember me, my team…A few days after he woke up, some of it started to come back, he remembered a vital piece of information about an attack on a ship. When he told who he needed to, they didn't listen and the ship blew up. 23 people died unnecessarily. My boss was so pissed he quit. He left me in charge of the team. He handed me his badge and his gun and just said 'You'll do.' It was unbelievable, but they don't call him Gibbs, second B for bastard, for nothing. I held the team together as best as I could. And that included my two other team members, and our forensic scientist who worships the ground he walks on. Our ME had been friends with him for a long time, but Ducky was pissed at Gibbs and took it out on his assistant. Jimmy and I became good friends in those months while the boss was gone. We could commiserate with each other. He was also the only member of the team not to constantly tell me I wasn't Gibbs. It was an impossible situation. If I ran the team the way I wanted, they ignored me or ridiculed me. If I tried running it the way my boss did, they constantly told me I wasn't him. So when our agency director asked me to do a possibly long term undercover op, I jumped at the chance. I needed the escape being someone else would bring. It didn't even matter what the mission was.

"I can't really explain what the mission was. Just that it involved your father."

"But my father's a business man," Jeanne said shocked.

"And our investigation has to do with his business. I'm sorry, but if you want to know more you have to ask him."

The two of them took a few minutes to process everything before Jeanne urged Tony to continue.

"The mission I was given was to seduce you so I could get information on your father. By our fourth date, I knew that you didn't know anything about his business. I also knew then that I was starting to fall for you. When I go undercover, I usually take a week or two coming up with the details of that person's life, memorizing them. With this one though, I didn't have to do any of that. I decided to just be myself for once. I could actually be myself because my cover was a regular person. And if I had to choose a job other than being a cop, I'd choose film professor. I actually have a doctorate in Film Studies. I also have one in criminology and I have a masters in music, phys ed, and computer programming. All those private tutors paid off. After my year in the R.I.M.A., I took a state placement test since I'd never been in school and I placed in eleventh grade. Which I found ironic at the time since I was eleven. By the time I was twenty, I had earned a masters in all 5 subjects. When I was injured in our championship football game, it wasn't pretty. It took me two years to fully recover. So while I was recovering, I got my doctorates in my two favorite subjects.

"And I have veered very far off course," Tony said taking a sip of his hot chocolate. "So back to what I was saying. When I was given the cover of Tony DiNardo, film professor, I decided to just stop pretending. I decided I was going to be my true self. The one that only one other person has ever fully seen. So everything I've told you about myself has been true, Jeanne. I stayed away from relationships because I didn't want to open myself up enough to be hurt. I didn't want anyone to have that power over me. But then you came along and you got under my skin. I think the thing I love most about you is that you don't push. You gently nudge," he said with that charming smile of his, "but you never push. You understand things. When you asked me about sex, I told you the truth. You didn't push me. You understood and let me move at my own pace. You have no idea how much that meant to me. I didn't want to rush things with you because you were different and I didn't want to risk ruining us. Please tell me I didn't ruin us," he whispered, his head dropping to his chest.


	3. chapter 3

Jeanne stared at the bent, broken man sitting before her. This was the turning point in her life. She could say "to hell with it" and walk away from Tony forever. She would be completely justified doing it. No one would blame her. But she'd always wonder what could have happened. He was right. The only thing he really lied about was what he did for a living. Everything else with her had been the absolute truth. He let down all his walls with her, he let her inside. Tony was more vulnerable than he ever let anyone believe. He was so easy to hurt. She held his fragile heart in her hands and at that moment, she decided to treat it like the treasure it was. It didn't matter why they'd met. They never really talked about family so there was nothing to tell his superiors about her father. It didn't matter what his last name was, it didn't matter if he was a teacher, a cop, or a trash collector. She'd seen the true beauty of his soul and that wasn't something she would throw away. She left her own chair and knelt down in front of his. She gently pulled on his legs, forcing him to turn towards her in his chair. His head was still bowed, so she put her finger under his chin, raising his head and meeting his eyes. "Tony," she said softly, "You didn't ruin anything. I love you and I'm not going to let you go that easily."

"Are—are you sure? Because I haven't really been in the best place lately and if this is some kind of trick—"

"It's not a trick. I promise you. You told me the truth. I know how hard that must have been. It just proves to me how much you care about me and how much you want this to work out."

"I really do Jeanne. I love you. And I know I'm going to make mistakes and mess things up because I haven't done this in a very long time, but I'm ready for a serious relationship and I want that with you."

"Okay then. So today, we stay in, watch movies, talk. Tomorrow, we come up with a plan of action. How does that sound?"

"That sounds perfect," Tony said as he pulled the woman into his arms. "That sounds really perfect."

TMBTM TMBTM TMBTM TMBTM

Eight months had passed since Jeanne found out who Tony really was. Life was not always perfect for them, but they managed to make it through together. To date, there were only two serious hardships that they faced. Sadly, they both happened within just two months of Jeanne learning the truth. The first nightmare they faced was the death of Paula Cassidy. Tony and Paula had never really dated, despite the brief one night encounter in Gitmo. If Tony had been a few years older when they met, it might have been a possibility, but he was too young for Paula when they did meet. It's not that she was too old for him, they were only three years apart in age, but she was very career driven, very focused. She knew what she wanted in life and she was long past short-term boyfriends. Although she was not completely immune to Tony's charm and though neither would ever admit it, they cared for each other deeply. While recovering from her encounter with the Kyle Boone wannabe, Tony actually took her up on her offer to talk about Kate. He didn't really have anyone else. There was no way he could talk to Gibbs and he sure as hell wasn't opening himself up to the Probie. Paula was a neutral third party, someone who had known Kate, someone who knew Tony and could both understand and help him grieve the loss of his partner.

The two agents kept in touch when Paula was reassigned to lead a team out of the Pentagon. They met a few times a month for drinks and emailed regularly. They became really good friends. When he had to go undercover as Ziva's husband and make out with her, Paula was the one who helped him work through his disgusted feelings. It's not that Ziva was bad looking, but she was far from his type and the fact that she was at least twelve years younger made him feel like a dirty old man. Kate may have teased him to death about dating younger women, but the truth was he never dated anyone more than five years younger than himself. There was also the fact that he did not trust Ziva, which just made working with her on that job even harder. A few months later he survived an entire day of being stuck in a box with Ziva, being shot, spending two days in Bethesda fighting off bronchitis that resulted as a combination of the fire smoke and cold dampness of the box. Paula was the one at his side, listening as he talked about being left out of a "team" dinner, having his injuries downplayed by some foreigner who thought just because she created a dossier based on his service records she actually knew anything about him.

The night Paula lost her team, Tony showed up at her apartment with Chinese food and beer, returning the favor of being there while she grieved, holding her when she cried, listening as she vowed revenge. That weekend was the first time he told her about Jeanne. He hadn't wanted to before that…he was afraid of how she'd react; especially if she found out he was undercover. But when he told Paula he loved Jeanne, she truly saw for the first time what she missed out on. She told him she was happy for him, but felt her last tether to the earth snap. So when she had the chance to save him, she willingly gave up her own life to do so.

Tony couldn't handle processing that scene. His mind was blank as he tried to come up with an excuse of why they shouldn't do it, but Gibbs knew him too well. He had already called in another team before his SFA even walked over to him. He told the younger man to go home, take the week off. But Tony didn't go home. He went to see Jeanne, his suit still covered in dust from the explosion, his eyes red while he tried to hold back the tears. As soon he saw Jeanne's face though, the tears came. She pulled him into the apartment and led him to the couch where he completely fell apart in her arms. She held him together through that whole ordeal. Even though she couldn't be at the funeral, too many agents would be there, the thought of her waiting for him kept him from falling apart a second time. His feelings for Paula were different than his feelings for Kate, but they were just as strong. And just like after Kate's death, he had nightmares for weeks. One was so bad he nearly broke Jeanne's arm when she tried to wake him up. That night he decided to start seeing a professional to help him deal with it all.

Not long after Tony's tragedy came Jeanne's with the death of her father.

_"How are you feeling?" Jeanne asked as they walked out of the hospital. They'd had a long night, surviving being held hostage at the hands of a crazy drug dealer and his junkie girlfriend. Tony had followed Jeanne when she went running down to the morgue, but when he went to pull his weapon he cursed himself in his head. He was still playing the part of a professor (for everyone else but Jeanne) so he left his gun in his car. He didn't want to risk anyone in the hospital seeing it. If he was alone with Nick, he could have easily made a play for the gun and unarmed the man, but he wasn't willing to risk either of the girls getting hurt. So he bided his time, formulating a plan as he watched his girlfriend cut open a dead body. She surprised the hell out of him when she stabbed Nick, forcing him to drop his gun. Once all the action was over and Tony stood holding the gun, he called a buddy over at Metro to come and arrest the dealer. They had the girl admitted to the hospital._

_"I feel like I got hit in the head. All I want right now is a hot shower and some aspirin," Tony said wearily._

_"That actually sounds great. Add in breakfast and it'll be perfect," Jeanne replied with a smile. They were almost to Tony's car when a limo pulled up in front of them. "Oh my God, I can't believe I forgot."_

_"Forgot what? What is this?"_

_"My father. He wanted to meet you and take us to breakfast. I was going to tell you last night, but we got distracted."_

_"This is going to be great," Tony muttered as the door opened and the two climbed in the limo._

_When Jeanne got the page about the death certificate, he was truly relieved. From there he could make up an excuse to leave. Unfortunately that didn't work when Rene revealed he knew exactly who Tony was. So he sent one of his men off in Tony's car while he dragged the young man with him back to the limo. They were discussing their plans for the morning, which consisted of going to Jeanne's apartment first so the couple could shower and change into fresh clothes followed by going to Rene's hotel for breakfast. Rene was about to ask them a question when the explosion happened. He yelled at his driver to hurry away, thinking he was the target. They stopped at a park. Tony thanked his years of training as a cop as he was able to compartmentalize everything that had just occurred and come up with a plan. He instructed the driver to take them to a bank ten miles away. Once at the bank, he pulled a key from his wallet and retrieved his safety deposit box. Inside were two new drivers' licenses, two passports, two encrypted burn phones, a watch, a set of keys, and an old leather backpack. Tony replaced the watch he was wearing with the one in the box, put the other contents of the box into the backpack, which contained ten thousand in cash, and returned the empty box. He had chosen that particular bank for a reason as he pulled Jeanne and Rene through the alley off the side of the building. He'd sent the limo off. It'd be too easy to track down and they needed to be as inconspicuous as possible._

_The reason he'd chosen that bank was because on the street behind it, there was a long-term storage facility. He quickly led them to his locker, where a 1998 blue Toyota Corolla was waiting, two bags of clothes already in the trunk, one with clothes in all Jeanne's size. None of it could be traced to him of course, not the storage locker or the deposit box at the bank. They were under an alias. Of course he didn't explain any of this until all three were in the car and on the road to Baltimore._

_"What is going on Tony?" Jeanne asked nervously. "That was your car back there."_

_"I don't know," he replied honestly. "So far I can only come up with two answers. The first is that they were aiming for me. It is my car after all and I can think of one person in particular I've pissed off enough to do it. The second option is far more frightening. Someone's been watching us and know that you've been on the night shift the past month and that I pick you up every morning for breakfast." At that, Rene started swearing loudly in French._

_"So they were aiming for me then?" Jeanne asked, her voice oddly calm despite the situation. "Where are we going then? Why the trip to the bank?"_

_"I have several 'go to ground' aliases and options set up within a hundred mile radius. This is one of them. I altered it after I told you the truth. I included new ids for you as well as a bag of clothes for you in the trunk. Everything is registered under Joseph Salvatore. Your new id lists you as Leona Salvatore, my wife. I know what your father does and I had a feeling it would come to a head eventually. Currently we're on the way to one of my safe houses. I'll leave you both there, with one of the encrypted cell phones and we'll figure everything else out from there." Tony explained. He'd already disabled the GPS in both Jeanne's and Rene's phones. No one really talked for the rest of the trip. When they arrived at his safe house, a one bedroom condo on the edge of the city, Tony led the Benoits inside, making sure to take all the bags with him. He sat them down on the couch and sat on the coffee table facing Jeanne. "First things first," he said, taking her wallet from her. He removed her credit cards, license, and hospital ID. In exchange he gave her the fake license with her new name. He also removed his own credit cards and license from his wallet and put in the new license. He took all the cards and put them in a small metal lock box, which then got stashed in a secret panel behind the couch. He pulled the leather backpack into his lap and removed two hundred dollars. "Here's the plan. There's ten thousand in this bag. I'm going to shower and change, and then I'm going for groceries. After that, I need to go back to DC. I have to find out what's going on with the investigation and if they were truly after you or if this was just a message for your father. There's also a phone in this bag. Keep it with you at all times. I will contact you on this phone only. Don't use your own. I disabled the GPS, but they will still be able to trace a block radius with the cell towers so keep them off. If you need to make a call, use that phone only. It's encrypted and untraceable. I want you to stay here until I contact you. You won't need to go out, but I'm leaving you the car keys just in case. I want you to put all the clothes I have for you in the bag with the money that way if you need to leave in a hurry, you just grab that bag and go."_

_"I want to go with you," Rene said. "Jeanne obviously knows who you are Tony and with everything you are doing to keep her safe, I trust you. Whether this was a message or a threat, I need to get out. I will not risk my children's lives any longer. I would like to come to NCIS. They are they only ones I trust right now. You are the only one I trust right now."_

_To say the agent was shocked by Rene's words would have been an understatement. He was nearly floored by what the man had said. It actually took him a minute to regain his thought function. "Thank you, Rene. That means a lot to me. I will do everything I can to keep both you and your daughter safe. But coming with me is not a good idea. We both know the director hates you. That's why she set this up in the first place. She wants to take you down. She always has. She blames you for her father's death. I don't trust her to be rational if I bring you in. She may actually try to kill you. So no, you stay here with Jeanne. Let me get as much information as I can. Then we will formulate a plan. Please don't risk your life right now."_

_Rene looked from Tony's pleading face to Jeanne's and decided the young man was right. He would stay, for now. "Alright, I will defer to you for now."_

_"Thank you. Do me one favor though. I want you to use the same account you used for the limo to set up a hotel or rental somewhere else. Give her something to chase while we figure things out."_

_"That will not be a problem."_

_"Good. Then I'm going to go shower and get our plan underway. I spent most of the night on the floor of a morgue and I'd really like to get out of these clothes."_

TMBTM

A few hours later, the elevator doors opened to reveal Tony's team and the director, and to them revealed Tony. Kort was also standing there, so the Italian decided to be his usual smart-ass self. "Hey, my car blew up this morning, did you do that?" He asked Kort, who then shoved him against the elevator, arm across his throat. Tony wasn't surprised when he looked out the corner of his eye to see three guns trained on Kort. When he was asked for the whereabouts of La Granouille, he went off on a small tangent about arms dealers and their names, revealing absolutely nothing. Once Kort was gone, the director pulled him and Gibbs into her office for a debriefing. While in there, Tony spoke a lot without really offering any information. When she asked him where Rene was, he told her he didn't know. As soon as she dismissed him, Gibbs pulled him down to Abby's lab. After Abby's usual tackle hug, she released him and his boss pulled him into the ballistics lab. It was one of the only soundproof rooms in the building which had the added benefit of being without a security camera.

"So where's the Frog?" Gibbs asked as he leaned against the desk in the room.

"Safe with his daughter. I used one of my go to ground aliases that I adapted to include Jeanne."

"So she already knew who you were?"

"I told her a few months ago, the night that Detective Carson died. I was in love with her and I couldn't keep living a lie. It would have only ended badly. I've never felt this way before so I took a risk and told her the truth. Surprisingly she didn't kick me out. "

"I'm happy for you Tony. But why didn't you tell me? You could've let me know what was going on, why you kept disappearing."

"I could have, if you were still the Gibbs from before you got blown up. When you left, you said 'You'll do.' That's it. You know how my dad treated me, constantly told me I was worthless. When you said those words, that's exactly how you made me feel. And I know you didn't really remember anything when you said it, so I forgave you. But you shattered my confidence in my abilities. If it wasn't for Paula and Balboa, I wouldn't have been able to do the job. I nearly put an innocent man in prison because of it. The two of them helped me though. They reminded me that I was a cop for a long time before I met you…reminded me that I had a 90% closure rate while I was a homicide detective. I was more than qualified to do the job and they were right. I was able to do my job better than before. But this wasn't my team. McGee had a hard time listening to me. He wanted to be SFA, even though he wasn't ready. I never officially promoted him because I knew he couldn't handle it. So I was doing your work and mine still. One day I gave him an order and he argued with me for five minutes about it before Balboa came over and the two of them had a pretty much knock down, drag out argument that nearly led to actual blows. Sam actually revealed my true qualifications to McGee. After that, he started doing his job like he did when you were the lead. Ziva though, she never listened. She constantly challenged me and my authority, challenged my orders, so when the director gave me the chance to go undercover, be somebody else for a while, I jumped at it. I could actually be myself for once." Tony realized he'd gotten off track, so he hopped back to the original topic.

"When you came back, you didn't talk to me first. You didn't tell me you wanted your job back. You just demoted me, moved McGee's stuff and mine back to our old desks and left my probie out in the cold. You want me to respect you? That was one way to make sure I never did. You weren't in the right headspace when you came back. Your memory still wasn't all there. I gave up leading my own team because I didn't trust you to lead this one. Between your wonky memory and Ziva's arrogance, no one would have had McGee's six. I didn't trust you not to get him hurt. So I stayed, no matter how hard it was to go back to being SFA. And Ziva's bitching and sniping sure as hell didn't make it easier. I thought we'd gotten closer. We'd have a team dinner at her place regularly to help us bond, but as soon as she's in trouble, she goes running for Gibbs. You guys have a special bond and that's great. But we were partners for a long time before she came and that meant something to me. I guess it didn't mean as much to you. So you want to know why I didn't tell you? It's because I didn't trust you. That doesn't matter now. What matters now is that Jeanne and Rene are safe and they will stay safe. This team will find out who bombed my car and I'll formulate a plan from there."

Tony's plan would have worked too. He planned to go to Tom Morrow, Assistant Director of Homeland Security and former director of NCIS. He was a man Tony trusted and he would have been able to bring Rene in safely. However Rene was a stubborn man. He told the agent that this would never be over; his family would never be safe as long as he was alive. You couldn't get out of the business any other way. So he made his peace with his daughter, gave the couple his blessing on their relationship, and went to see Jenny Sheppard. He was dead before the sun rose the next morning.


	4. chapter 4

"Shit," McGee muttered as soon as he saw a dripping wet Tony kneeling on the edge of the dock, between Gibbs and Maddie who were simply lying there. Before the car even stopped, Ziva was out of it and running towards them. As soon as he stopped though, Tim pulled out his cell and hit speed dial 9 while popping the trunk and moving towards it.

"Details," the voice on the other end of the phone ordered.

"None yet. We're at Pier 5, 550 Marine Ave SW in DC. I just arrived. He's kneeling on the doc dripping wet and visibly wheezing. Gibbs and a civilian are on the ground beside him. Fair guess those two went into the water and Tony went in after them."

"Inhaler, oxygen, then get him dry and warm. Medevac will be there in ten," was all the voice said before the connection was cut. McGee put his phone back in his pocket and grabbed the red "Tony bag" from the trunk. He started to rush over the same time he heard Ziva yell "All clear." As soon as he heard those words, he sprinted straight for Tony, completely ignoring the other two on the doc. He pulled the rescue inhaler from the bag and tried to hand it to the other man. Tony merely shook his head. It was November and he'd been in the river several times. His hands were cold and cramping and he couldn't close them around the device.

"Okay then," Tim said softly, "I'll do this for you alright? Can you open your mouth?" As soon as the other agent did, Tim gently placed the inhaler on his lips. "You know the deal Tony. Take as deep a breath as you can and hold it for ten seconds. On three alright? One, two…" Tim pushed down on the inhaler on three, just like he said. Tony was able to take a deep breath but could only hold it for two seconds before a coughing fit overtook him. McGee grabbed onto his wet friend as he slumped forward from the exertion.

"McGee, call an ambulance and Ducky," Ziva ordered.

"Do it yourself. I'm busy," he said back. He didn't even notice that it was the first time he stood up to the woman; he was too focused on keeping his partner breathing. Ziva huffed and pulled out her cellphone.

A minute later, the coughing had subsided and Tony leaned back a bit. "Let's give this one more try then I'm going to get you warmed up alright?" The two men repeated the same process as before and this time Tony was able to hold his breath for five seconds before the coughing came. Once he was done, McGee put the bag over one shoulder and levered the man up off the dock. He wrapped Tony's arm around his shoulder and struggled to support him into the warehouse. The man was easily 220 pounds of pure muscle.

It took a good four minutes for the two to make it into the warehouse and find a spot enclosed enough to protect Tony from the wind as he changed. They found a stool on which the older man sat while McGee opened the red bag and pulled out two towels. He slowly began peeling the layers of clothing off the other agent, starting with his tie. Once that, along with his jacket, shirt and undershirt had been removed, McGee carefully dried him off with the towel, replacing the wet clothes with a dry, Ohio State hooded sweatshirt from the bag. Next he pulled off the man's shoes and socks, before having him stand so he could remove his wet pants and boxers as well. This was not a common occurrence for them and both were embarrassed by it. McGee averted his eyes the entire time and fortunately, Tony's hands had woken up enough at that point to be able to dry off that area himself. Once he was dry, McGee, eyes still averted, helped him into a dry pair of boxers and his Ohio State sweatpants. He placed a dry towel over the stool so that Tony's pants wouldn't get wet and sat the man back down. He took a portable electric blanket and wrapped it around the man, turning it on medium in an effort to help him heat up slowly enough not to shock his system. He also pulled the hood up onto his head. He grabbed a pair of thick tube socks and a pair of sneakers and put them on his friend as well before grabbing the oxygen mask to complete the ensemble. "Alright, here we go. Just breathe buddy. The chopper will be here for you soon." Tony spoke no words, but the gratitude in his eyes said it all.

TMBTM TMBTM

That one action – diving into the river in November to save his boss and a civilian, cost him a week in the hospital and two weeks of recovery after that. He was able to go back to work the third week, but he was still on his medication and hiding his cough from his coworkers. Fortunately the pneumonia hadn't resurfaced that time, but he did get a bad chest cold. He also got into one hell of a fight with Brad.

_"What the hell is wrong with you?" Brad finally asked on the day he was releasing Tony from the hospital. "Do you want to die? Is that it?"_

_"What the hell was I supposed to do?" Tony shouted back. "They were being shot at. They went into the river. I didn't know if either one was hit. All I knew was that I needed to get them out. What would you have had me do? Let them drown?"_

_"I'd have you think about yourself first for once in your life! This is not a game Tony. Your lungs can't handle something like this. You are so damn lucky the pneumonia didn't come back this time because if it did, I don't know if you'd be able to survive it. You barely survived it the first time. You're also lucky the medevac was here already and I was able to take it out to you. And you're lucky Tim was there because he probably saved you from getting pneumonia."_

_"I know! I get it okay? But this is my job Brad. I risk my life every single day. I've been doing it since I was twenty three years old; as soon as I recovered from the damage some jock did to my leg, ruining my pro sports career in the process. "_

_Brad recoiled in shock at the words and Tony blanched when he realized what he said. "Shit, Brad, you know I didn't mean it. I don't blame you for that. It's just…this is all I've wanted to do. I wouldn't even know what to do if I couldn't be a cop anymore."_

_"I know that," the doctor said softly. "Tony, we've become really good friends these past few years. I don't…I couldn't handle it if you got so sick that there was nothing I could do. I'm not saying you can't be a cop anymore, but you need to be somewhere warmer. These winters are doing your lungs no favors. Please think about it."_

_Once Brad left the room, Tony heard the door open again. He was lying on his side facing the window. "Please tell me you're not here to fight with me too," he said softly. A few moments later, Jeanne stood in front of him._

_"I don't want to fight," she said as she sat next to him on the bed, taking his hand in hers. "I don't want to lose you either. You can't keep going like this Tony. We're engaged. You promised you'd always be there for me. Especially after everything with my father… I can't lose you too."_

_"I can't leave my job. I can't leave my team."_

_"Aside from Tim and Jimmy, is there anyone on your team you truly still trust? I know that you don't trust Ziva. You haven't since she showed up. You're still hurt over both Abby's and Dr. Mallard's actions when your boss left and we both know how you feel about him. Tony, you gave up a golden, dream promotion that anyone else would have jumped on immediately because you knew something was still wrong with him. You didn't trust him to take care of the other team members. But baby, he's been back for a year now. Something has got to give. Whatever happened to Gibbs broke him. He doesn't see you as his equal, his partner anymore. And from what you've told me, he hasn't since Kate joined your team. You don't pit the junior against their superior and expect that superior to get any kind of respect. With what happened this past week, we know that Gibbs doesn't respect you. So why are you fighting so hard to stay with him when he treats you like shit, like you're an idiot? We both know your investigative skills surpass him. You are the one who's been getting offers from multiple agencies and police departments, not him. You need to stop hiding your abilities and let your true self shine. If you let things stay the same, you're going to be miserable. And next time you may not be so lucky. Next time he may just get you killed. I won't let you go Tony. I love you and I won't lose you, not to him."_

That was why, the same day he came back to work, he made a stop during his lunch break to pop into HR and talk to Mary, his favorite HR rep and ask her if she could find out about any openings in a warmer climate…discreetly. They'd been friends for a few years now and she promised to compile all the information for him within a few days. Once he had it, he'd enact part two of his plan. Part two consisting of a call to Tobias Fornell while he submitted the transfer request. Jeanne was right. It was time for something to give. He just never thought it'd be him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TIMELINE CHANGE: As this is an AU, the timeline between Requiem and Internal Affairs has been shortened. The two events now take place within three weeks of each other. Now onto the end…I hope you enjoy.

"Agent DiNozzo."

"Ma'am." Tony replied as he sat in the chair before her desk. He refused to call her by her title. He'd lost all respect for her months ago.

"What happened to Jenny?" She asked her face void of emotions.

"What happened to a director who had the best interests of the agency and its agents?" Tony fired back.

"I suppose I deserved that. Still, I am the director of this agency and your boss. Now," she said as she opened a file on her desk. "When Jethro first returned from Mexico, I offered you your own team in Spain. You turned me down. You believed he was not back completely. Now he clearly is, and you're asking not only for a promotion, but a transfer as well. Please explain."

"The reason in trifold, with the first two directly related. When Maddie Tyler showed up, Agent Gibbs decided he was a one man team. He neither told us what was going on, nor did he trust us to help. This resulted in both him and Ms. Tyler being fired upon by the bad guys and their only escape was the river. They were fortunate in that I found them in enough time to get them both out and while both needed CPR initially, both were fine. I however was not. Before you came, I was infected with pneumonic plague. As you can see, I'm still alive, but my survival was not without its consequences. My lungs are fragile. I cannot be jumping into the river multiple times in November. I have been on medication for the past few weeks and spent a week in Bethesda. If it wasn't for McGee's quick intervention, I likely would have developed pneumonia again. As it was, I only got a bad chest cold, but those can be equally dangerous. My doctor insists I move to somewhere with a warmer climate year-round. I've discussed this with several friends and colleagues and found this to be the best option if I want to stay within the agency. I have several others offers I can take in similar climates if this does not work out.

"The second reason, which ties into the first, is that I no longer trust Agent Gibbs. While I do believe he is back to himself in terms of being an agent, it is clear that he no longer trusts me as his partner. If he did, he would not have gone off on his own. He personally recruited me, and yet since he came back from his leave of absence, he has treated me with distain and disrespect, starting with the way he simply dumped my things on my old desk and kicked out my probie, without even talking to me first. Officer David has also been treating me with distain and disrespect since she started to work here. I have filed multiple insubordination reports on her, and I know several other agents have filed them against her as well, but nothing has come of them. As I have told Agent Gibbs from the beginning, she has no value on our team. She does not know our laws, nor does she care to learn about or use them. When she does not get her way, she uses threats of violence, not only against suspects, but against members of this agency. She is not an agent of NCIS; she is a foreign operative working in coordination with us and should not have the clearance level that she does. She should also be working with the terrorism or other intelligence teams, but she was put on Major Crimes when she has never once in her life investigated a crime. Agent McGee had more experience as a Probie than she does. She refuses to listen to me as her superior and ever since she found out about my undercover work has been flat out insulting me. The only member on the MCRT I truly trust is Tim McGee and while I regret leaving him to the wolves, I need to think about myself for once and do what is best for me. And what is best for me is to get away from the team."

Jenny sat there stunned. Not only had she never heard Tony talk so much, she'd also never heard him speak of his team like that. She had gotten all his reports on Ziva, but she'd never done anything about them. When they first started to come in, it had only been a week since the girl started and she didn't do anything because Ziva was new and still learning the dynamics of working on a team. That was also her reasoning for why she did nothing about the reports received when Tony had lead of the MCRT. They were all trying to find their way without Gibbs. She liked Ziva from the moment they met and she knew the girl was having trouble working for her father, especially with everything Ari was doing. So her first job as director had been to create a job for the girl. She never took into account the information she'd just been given. She'd disrupted the dynamic of one of the best teams in the entire agency and from what she was now hearing, it was clear to her that the girl had nothing to do with the rate of closed cases. It was all down to the three men. Three…

"You said the reason was trifold," she stated, gaining back her composure. "You only listed two."

"The third reason is personal ma'am and I'd prefer not to share it."

"Off the record then. Forget that I'm your boss and pretend that we're just two friends talking. Nothing you say will be held against you."

"But we're not friends, are we? You wanted me to think that, but really you were just using me in your sick little game against the man you believe killed your father. You can't accept the fact he killed himself so you're blaming anyone else but him. I've looked into the case. You believe the bruise on his hand meant someone forced the gun to his head. What you overlooked was the fact that the bruise was several days old at the time of death. You also continued to go after the man you believed responsible, regardless of what you were told by both your boss and the CIA. You had me destroy an innocent woman's life. I told you from the beginning she knew nothing about her father's real business, but you didn't listen. Your obsession outweighed common sense. I don't trust you and any order you give me in the future, I'd hesitate. I wouldn't immediately trust your decisions and if that happened in the field…well, we both know how dangerous that could be. So while my primary reason for requesting the transfer is my health, I'd also very much like to get far away from this office."

Once again, Jenny was stunned. She never expected the truth to be handed to her so calmly and coldly. She truly had no idea what to say. Tony stopped her from trying though when he stood. "If that's all ma'am," he said as he straightened his jacket, "I have some work to finish before McGee starts his system back up. Will you let me know your decision either way regarding the position?" The woman simply nodded. "Thank you then. Have a good day." And just like that, Tony was out of her office. It took her nearly an hour to recover from that meeting but afterwards, she set up an interview for him with the current lead of that team. The final decision was hers, but if the current lead approved Tony as someone who'd fit with his team, she would definitely be signing the transfer order. After everything she'd put the young agent through, she knew he deserved this and more. If truth be told, she'd wanted to do something for him when that assignment had blown up, literally. Now she was getting the chance and to help him and it was something he was more than qualified to do.

TMBTM TMBTM TMBTM

Three days had passed since Tony first spoke with the director. He'd met with Harv Latten, the current lead of the team he applied to take over. The two of them got along great and Harv believed the young man would fit in quite well with his team. He'd given his recommendation to the director, who'd immediately signed off on it. All the paperwork was filled out that morning and once the work day was over, Tony DiNozzo would no longer be the SFA on Agent Gibbs' MCRT. He'd be the SSA on his own MCRT. Harv was staying on an additional two weeks, long enough for Tony to pack up his apartment and move out. He was using his vacation time to do so, but he still had more than enough to cover it. Both he and Jeanne were going to fly out the next afternoon to begin the search for a house.

The ink had barely dried on his paperwork when he placed a simple, two word text: "It's time." He had packed up his desk and any other belongings he had in the building late the night before. Now all he had to do now was sit back and wait for the fireworks. They started three hours later when the phones and computers shut down. Tony knew it was coming so he convinced McGee to do the file backup two days prior. He also told Sam Balboa, whose team had taken over for Paula's at the Pentagon to be prepared for any calls that came in that day. He let the dispatcher Penny know to forward any cases to them. She was an old friend who knew how to keep a secret. So when Fornell and his agents got off the elevator, it was time for an Oscar worthy act.

Really, the Oscar worthy acting needed to come from three different people for this to be pulled off: Tony, Fornell, and Jeanne. Tony had this planned out perfectly. Unfortunately for him, it involved Jeanne leaving town for two months, but they could handle it. He knew that when his team found out about the undercover assignment, they'd have to "end" their relationship. Jeanne's friend had been bugging her about coming to Gabon. She'd gotten a fellowship for it and needed another doctor to go with her. Tony saw it as the perfect opportunity. Supposedly bad break up, girl runs away, what more could they ask for? The plan was for Fornell to contact Tony if Rene's body was ever found. Jeanne would then come back and accuse Tony of the crime. He knew that once Jenny found out he was being accused, and by who, she'd want to talk to the person. It was Jeanne's job to give her just enough rope to hang herself. Tobias got to play it as if he truly believed Tony was the killer. Things didn't quite happen that way though.

The first road bump was the letter. Two days before Maddie Tyler showed up, a letter was left in his mailbox. There was no return address. When he opened it, a memory card fell out. The letter read:

_"Tony,  
If you are reading this, then I am dead, as you no doubt suspect. I went against your better judgment and spoke to Jennifer Sheppard. She was not receptive of my request to turn myself in to her agency, just as you predicted. She threatened me with a gun, but the bullets were already removed. Gibbs was there. She told me to take the gun with me for protection, assuming I had the bullets. I left the gun on her desk and walked out. I went to the yacht I had rented. I wrote this and gave it to my driver. I told him to return in the morning and retrieve the footage from the hidden cameras I had installed. I told him I would not be there and I instructed him not to watch, but put the footage in an envelope with your name and if he did not hear from me again, exactly one month later he was to mail it with this letter to you. I truly do not know what you will find when you watch it. I do believe it will be what we both suspect. I want you to know, as I know you will share this with my Jeanne, that I did not kill Jasper Sheppard. I spoke to him several days before it happened, but to my knowledge he did kill himself._

_Take care of my daughter Tony. All I know about you, all Jeanne has told me, all you tried to do for us; I know you are a good man. You love my daughter very much, as I do. I wish I could be there to walk her down the aisle when you wed. I am so sorry that I won't. Be happy, both of you._

_~Rene Benoit"_

Tony was still trying to decide what to do about the letter, when disaster struck and he landed in the hospital for a week. Jeanne flew back to DC when she found out, nearly a month earlier than they anticipated. The day he had his interview with Harv was the day Tobias called to inform him Rene's body had been found. The FBI agent agreed to sit on the info for 48 hours, until Tony's transfer paperwork was approved and taken care of. Once that was out of the way, it was game on. Jeanne checked into a hotel first thing in the morning so if anyone came looking, they wouldn't find her with her fiancé. From there she went to the FBI, requesting to speak to Fornell personally. She gave him the memory card and explained the plan. Tobias went over to NCIS and spent the day personally interrogating each member of Gibbs' team, including both Ducky and Abby. When it came time for him to talk to Tony, he honestly enjoyed the man's comments at the start. Then he had to ask the hard questions. Both men knew if Jeanne hadn't been told the truth months earlier, this line of questioning would be particularly painful. However harsh accusing him of murder, wrongly, for the second time, would be it was necessary to get Jenny alone in a room with Jeanne.

"You didn't really see Tony that night, did you?" The director asked after giving a speech in that quiet, passive aggressive voice of hers.

"Actually, I did," Jeanne confessed, "Just not at the marina. Would you like to know what really happened that day, director?" Without waiting for an answer, she continued to speak. "We were together in the limo: Tony, my father, and me. We were heading to my apartment so Tony and I could get cleaned up and changed before going to breakfast. When Tony's car blew up, he got us out of the city to a safe house. He tried to convince my father to stay there while he found out what was going on. He was the one who had my father set up someplace to stay that could easily be tracked. My father spent the afternoon with me, just talking, reminiscing. When Tony found out for certain it was me they were after, he called to tell us. My father decided to leave. He knew I'd never be safe with him around. So he went to see you, director. You pulled a gun on him, but the bullets weren't in it. You told him your agency wouldn't protect him. He put the gun on your desk and went to the yacht. A few hours later, you showed up. You grabbed his hand at a specific pressure point so he couldn't move and you shot him. You threw the gun in the river and left. Tony didn't kill my father. You did."

"You have no proof of that. We've already established that you weren't there," Jenny said, trying to maintain her composure.

"You're right, I wasn't. But my father wrote Tony a letter. He also had cameras set up all over the boat. He had his driver get the memory card the next morning and deliver it with the letter if he didn't contact him within a month. I gave both to the FBI this morning. You murdered my father in cold blood," Jeanne said as she stood. "I hope you rot in hell."

Jeanne stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. She asked the agent in the hall to escort her from the building. She wanted the woman to pay for what she did, but Tony had already warned her that might not happen. She'd lose her position for sure, but whether or not she faced a trial, or jail time, depended on the CIA and if Kort did anything to intervene. Naturally, he did. He showed up a few minutes later and let the woman off the hook. He'd already removed the evidence from the FBI and destroyed it. That was the real reason he got sucker punched in the face. He was about to punch Tony back when Ziva showed up at his side. Trent walked away then, but Ziva did not. She saw Jeanne leaving and told Tony to be a man and tell the woman what she needed to hear. He turned to her instead. "You're the one who has something they need to hear Ziva. I am not your husband, your boyfriend or your lover. I never will be. You have no place being jealous of my relationship. I feel nothing for you. At first all I felt for you was hate. You couldn't stop your brother when you were ordered to and my partner paid the price for your inaction. And you had the gall to try and cover up what he did. Now? Now, I just feel nothing. You are smug, arrogant, and you think because you were a spy you're better than everyone else. You are not better than me. You're not better than Tim and you're certainly not better than Gibbs. You need to grow up and get a life. I'm done letting you mess with mine."

Tony left the stunned woman standing there, grabbed his bag from beside his desk and walked over to the elevator where he got on it with his fiancé. The flight they'd planned for the next day was no longer the one they were taking. With the case wrapped up in a neat little bow, Jeanne claimed her father's body and they were flying him home to France, where he'd be buried on his estate in the family cemetery. Her eldest brother Marco would be taking over all of Rene's legitimate businesses. The family grieved together. Jeanne and Tony spent a week with them before finally catching a flight to Hawaii. Jeanne had had weeks to come to terms with her father's death. Now she could honor his wishes and move on with her life. Step one was to follow her fiancé to Hawaii, where he'd become the new lead of the MCRT at NCIS Pearl Harbor. From there, anything was possible, as long as he was by her side. She planned to keep him there for a very, very long time.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I do watch a ton of NCIS, but I've been bored so I've been marathoning it lately from the very start (and by very start I mean 2 part pilot that aired as JAG episodes). I'm currently in season 4. This popped into my head this morning. It's my first NCIS fanfiction. Please let me know what you think and if I should continue.
> 
> Italian Translations: Mio caro = my darling
> 
> Mio tesoro = my treasure
> 
> Amore Mio = my love
> 
> Mio Figlio = my son
> 
> Ti amo, mio bambino caro = I love you, my darling baby


End file.
